I finally got a goodnights sleep and tried to run on the treadmill in the morning but I barely squeezed out a mile. I had pulled a calf muscle and was still trying to work it out.
Today I was invited to have lunch with the Afghan Colonel along with the Major, Zaki and some of the Army folks, including the Gamberi CO and XO.
I spent the morning working on all the photos I had taken the day before and building the storyboards and stuff. We left for the luncheon and ended up waiting for a while in the ANA Colonel’s office for a General to arrive. This time they didn’t inundate us with chai tea and candy and nuts. I was wishing they had. I love it.
Instead we sat there with the TV playing a bunch of provocative music videos like Shakira’s latest. I felt a little uncomfortable about it knowing how conservative the Afghans are about sex and scantily clad women. What’s even funnier is when the General arrived and he sat down to talk a moment before we went to the other room to eat, the videos were still playing in the background and I could swear one of the Colonels was watching the TV instead of listening to the General. Very odd yet intriguing.
We ate another fantastic Afghan feast of rice, curdled milk (tastes like yogurt) chicken, beef, veggies and naan (that awesome middle eastern bread). They had fresh hot peppers, scallions and cucumbers. It was so good. After lunch we headed back to our compound and I finished my storyboards and gave the bosses a good laugh.
I never saw this one coming but the Afghan General showed up with a large group of Afghan soldiers for a game of volleyball. Yes, we played volleyball. I got it on video and photos. They are very good players, even the General who I’ve so far failed to describe but now I must. He’s about 6ft 2in and well over 300 lbs. He’s a big boy but he can play some v-ball. He was impressed with my serving ability but not so much my playing ability. I leave a lot to be desired on the court….in any sport.
After several rounds of v-ball we went to the dining facility for tea and conversation. The General asked for me to sit across from him and Zaki translated for us so we could talk about Public Affairs. He told me he worked in PA for 13 years and knows how important it is. We talked about the future of PA in Afghanistan and what can be done to improve the ANA’s ability to get positive messages out to the Afghan people.
Since most of the population of Afghanistan is illiterate, I mentioned using photos and broadcast mediums to get messages out and he said they are working on the broadcast stuff but that photographs were a good suggestion. I wanted to continue on with the conversation and mention how influential it could be for his soldiers to do community relations projects for the villagers and have his PA guy cover that so they could show other village elders what they’ve done in the villages they helped but we were cut short because he had to get to another meeting. I really felt that was the best advice I could give but was disappointed I didn’t get to share it.
I love my job and getting an opportunity like this is one of the reasons why. How many enlisted PA specialists get to sit with one of the Generals of the largest ANA force in Afghanistan and talk PA and make suggestions for how to get positive messages to the local populations, letting them know they are there to help? Well I know of one.
It would be incredible if anything I said could go forth and make a difference in this war against the Taliban. Getting the people’s support is the best way to do that.
After tea and dinner the ANA soldiers and their General departed but not until we got photos together. About three or four soldiers wanted their picture taken with me. I felt a little like a celebrity but not enough to want to stay in Afghanistan. No thanks; I’ll take anonymity in the U.S.
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